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I
nt. J.
K
nowledge and Learnin
g
, Vol. 14, No. 1, 2021 39
Copyright © 2021 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.
Career growth and development: the buzzword is
continuing education
Preeti Bhaskar
University of Technology and Applied Sciences,
Ibra, Oman
and
ICFAI University,
Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India
Email: preeti.bhaskar52@gmail.com
Amit Joshi*
ICFAI Business School,
ICFAI University,
Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India
Email: ihsojtima@gmail.com
*Corresponding author
Gaurav Chopra
IMS Unison University,
Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India
Email: gauravschopra19@gmail.com
Abstract: This paper focuses on the importance of continuing education among
employees in information technology companies in India. The study identifies
the factors which influence employees for continuing education and its impact
on their career growth and development. A systematic survey of the
315 employees working in the top ten IT companies was conducted to
accumulate primary data. The analysis of the study stipulates that factors
including – financial investment, time requirements for completing the course,
employment opportunities and acquiring new skills play an important role
among employees for continuing education. This study also reveals that
continuing education has a positive impact on career growth and development.
With the help of continuing education, employees get professional growth
(better career opportunities, job security, salary increment, and promotion) and
personal growth (personality development, development of interpersonal skills,
development of technical skills and self-confidence)
Keywords: continuing education; career development; professional growth; IT
companies.
Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Bhaskar, P., Joshi, A. and
Chopra, G. (2021) ‘Career growth and development: the buzzword is
continuing education’, Int. J. Knowledge and Learning, Vol. 14, No. 1,
pp.39–62.
40 P. Bhaskar et al.
Biographical notes: Preeti Bhaskar is a working as a faculty at the University
of Technology and Applied Sciences, Ibra, Oman and a Research Scholar at the
ICFAI University, Dehradun, India. She possesses nine years of teaching
experience in the area of human resource management. Her research interest
includes technology adoption, e-government, job performance, job satisfaction,
sustainable development, continuing education and e-learning. She has
published research papers in many reputed journals (ABDC and SCOPUS) and
presented research papers at various national and international conferences. She
has also authored two books on ‘general management’ and published two case
studies in Case Centre, the UK. She has also completed two minor research
projects sponsored by the Symbiosis International University, Pune. She is
actively engaged in conducting student development programs and faculty
development programs at various colleges and universities.
Amit Joshi is a triple postgraduate in Economics, Commerce and English. He
has completed his Master’s Diploma in International Trade from the Symbiosis,
Pune. He has been awarded a degree of MPhil in Economics and Doctorate in
English. Currently, he is working as the Head of the Department at the ICFAI
Business School, ICFAI University, Dehradun. His area of expertise includes
English, business communication and life skills. He has more than 18 years of
teaching experience and has several research publications in various reputed
journals to his credit. He has also authored the poetry book Stimulus: From
Darkness to Light (A Collection of Motivational Poems). He has presented
research papers at several national and international conferences that include
places like Dusseldorf, Germany, Saint Petersburg, Russia, University of
Dubai, etc. His research interests include communication strategy, the art of
writing, personal effectiveness, marginal productivity theory, trickledown
effect and communication modelling.
Gaurav Chopra is an Assistant Professor at the School of Management, IMS
Unison University, Dehradun, India. He is an MBA, PhD and UGC-NET
qualified and having diversified experience of more than six years in teaching
and research. He has also served in specialised academic institutes of healthcare
and aviation. He has published papers in various refereed journals of repute. He
has also participated and presented research papers in various national and
international conferences. He has participated actively in various workshops of
data analysis like SPSS, structural equation modelling through AMOS, R
programming, and financial econometrics using e-views. His areas of interest
are economics, business analytics, and e-learning.
1 Introduction
Education in most countries is synonymous with employment, the first objective of
getting degrees is to get a job and live a decent life. Once an employee gets into the job
and comfort zone, they do not wish to continue their education. The education of
employees gained during their tenure becomes obsolete in terms of knowledge and skills.
Employees working with information technology (IT) sector are more prone to become
outdated because of dynamic nature of the IT industry. With the fourth industrial
revolution, everyday new technological development takes place and every company
wants to be the leader in this cut-throat competition. The ultimate pressure comes on the
employee to meet the demands of the companies. IT companies need knowledgeable,
skilful, and talented employees. Though India’s digitally skilled workforce is growing at
Career growth and developmen
t
41
approximately 20% annually, but demand is likely to rise at a compounded annual growth
rate of about 30% by the year 2030 (Baruah, 2020). India IT companies are facing a
major talent crunch because employees are not having the required knowledge and skills
to match the company’s requirements. According to the National Association of Software
and Services Companies (NASSCOM), four million IT workforces will be required to
enhance their skills in the upcoming years to keep up with the accelerating pace of
technological developments in various areas (Sangani, 2018). World Economic Forum
estimated that the talent demand-supply gap in artificial intelligence and big data
analytics is expected to grow from 62,000 to 140,000 by the year 2030.
To stay pertinent in this sector, employees need to upgrade themselves, or else they
will be out of the job market. Employees need to understand that continuing education is
the only way to upgrade themselves to fulfil the IT companies’ requirements. Though
some companies like Wipro are using a skill-based learning framework to enhancing
employees’ technical knowledge by giving credit point for completing technical
certifications and technical training courses in artificial intelligence, internet of things,
big data analytics, blockchain, cloud computing, machine learning, virtual reality
intelligent automation, etc. IT companies’ employees need to cope up with rapid
technological changes to match the global industrial requirements. Existing employees
also need to fulfil the job requirement of the company or they will be replaced by new
talent. Many IT employees wish to continue education but unable to register for
continuing education due to many reasons. Literature shows that employee needs time for
studying and completing the course (Bayar, 2013). IT companies’ employees have a
heavy workload and odd working hours so employees do not get time for continuing
education. Many times employees wish to earn extra certification program but due to
high cost, they postpone for the future (McKay and Sappa, 2019). Within the stipulated
time, the employee becomes obsolete for IT companies and no more employable in the
job market. Therefore employees need to understand the role of continuing education for
career growth and development. This paper focuses on the importance of continuing
education among employees in IT companies in India. The study also identifies the
factors which influence employees for continuing education and its impact on their career
growth and development.
The paper is organised as follows: Section 1 presents an introduction to continuing
education; Section 2 consists the review of literature on continuing education factors and
dimensions of career growth and development; Section 3 focuses on proposed conceptual
framework; Section 4 describes the research methodology; Section 5 data analysis
discussion; Section 6 concludes the study with implication and Section 7 highlight the
limitation and future scope of the study.
2 Review of literature
2.1 Importance of continuing education among employees
Continuing education enhances proficiency among the employees also enables their
chances of getting a promotion (Loveless, 2019) and additional skills and knowledge
benefits (Nagovitsyn et al., 2019). A well-trained and well-educated employees help
companies to achieve long-term viability and profitability. Literature review proves that
continuing education improves the chances of promotion, higher salary, and employee
42 P. Bhaskar et al.
marketability in the job market, obtain new skills and knowledge, personal development
improved self-image and helps in career transition (Fraley and Schaefer, 2017). The
importance of continuing education among employees has been studied in various sectors
like nursing (Sharma and Panthi, 2018; Ousey and Roberts, 2013); education (Adu and
Okeke, 2014; Wan and Lam, 2010); medical (Howard-McNatt et al., 2019; Cullen et al.,
2019); business process outsourcing sector (Priya et al., 2015); accounting and auditing
(Reinstein et al., 2019); agriculture (Martin, 2018); engineering (Bourne et al., 2005) but
none of the studies focused on the IT sector which requires utmost attention in the present
scenario. Table 1 illustrates shows the research studies done on continuing education in
various sectors. This study will be the first attempt to address the importance of
continuing education among employees of IT companies in India.
Table 1 Importance of continuing education in various sectors
Sector References
Nursing Nobrega et al. (2019), Rouleau et al. (2019), Caporiccio et al. (2019), Ylönen
et al. (2019), Goudy-Egger and Dunn (2018), Yoshino et al. (2018), Rouleau et
al. (2017), Bindon (2017), Eslamian et al. (2015), Brekelmans et al. (2013),
Katsikitis et al. (2013), James and Francis (2011), Hatch et al. (2007) and
Eustace (2001)
Education Kobzina (2019), Daley and Cervero (2018), Gagné et al. (2018), Cervero and
Daley (2017), Rouleau et al. (2017), Üreten et al. (2017), Wright (2017), Rafiq
et al. (2017), Harris and Harris (2017), Raza (2010), Jafri (2009), Bullough
(2009) and Lawton and Wimpenny (2003)
Medical
education
Abuloha et al. (2019), Neimeyer et al. (2019), Block et al. (2018), Kurtin et al.
(2017), VanNieuwenborg et al. (2016), Davis and Carr (2016) and Cervero
(2000)
Business
process
outsourcing
Priya et al. (2015)
Accounting
and auditing
Reinstein et al. (2019), Kaspina (2015), Zajkowski et al. (2007), Wessels (2007)
and Grimstad (1962)
Agriculture Martin (2018)
Engineering Baukal (2010), Bourne et al. (2005) and Mi et al. (2005)
Healthcare
system
Alturkistani et al. (2019), Harvey et al. (2020), Antinori-Lent et al. (2018), Kitto
(2018), Mersel et al. (1993), Wellens (2017), Da Costa et al. (2016),
Tsoi et al. (2016), Baxter et al. (2013) and Daniels and Walter (2002)
2.2 Factors influencing employees for continuing education
To conduct any activity first we lay down the objectives followed by the justification of
the objectives. The question that arises is why employees should go for further education
and how they can be motivated to opt for it. The IT industry is dynamic and keep on
changing their requirement and look for specific credentials and skills for projects and
positions IT companies’ employees need to cope up with rapid technological changes to
match the global industrial requirements. Existing employees need to fulfil the job
requirement of the company or they may be replaced by new employees who possess
those skills. Many IT employees wish to continue education but unable to register for
continuing education due to many reasons. Literature shows that employee needs time for
Career growth and developmen
t
43
studying and completing the course (Bayar, 2013). Many times employees want to go for
higher education or certification program but due to high fees, they do not opt to continue
education (McKay and Sappa, 2019). Garuba (2004) adduced financial difficulties, lack
of information on the continuing education programs, and unawareness of the potential
benefit on professional output are the reasons for non-participation in continuing
education. Employee wants to register for those courses which can enhance their
knowledge and keep them updated with the latest trend and technological advancement
(Nagovitsyn et al., 2019). IT employees are needed in nearly every industry which further
raises global competition among them. Employees want to enrol in continue education
when they find that course can offer better employment opportunities (Curran et al.,
2019). Based on the above literature, it can be observed that time requirement, financial
support, acquiring new knowledge, and employment opportunities can influence IT
employees for continuing education.
2.3 Time requirement
Continuing education for IT employees is even more challenging due to long working
hours, heavy workload, and odd time work schedule. IT employees face mounting
workloads which limit the time for registering for education and training courses (Global
Knowledge, 2020). Employees need time to participate in a continuing education course
for upgrading their knowledge and skills. Working and studying at the same time requires
organisation and family support. Employees look for flexibility in the work schedule
from the employers for completing the course (Adu and Okeke, 2014; Anhwere, 2013).
Time constraints discourage employees from applying for further education which limits
their future career growth and development. Thus following hypothesis is proposed:
H1 (a) Time requirements for completing the course is significantly important for
influencing employees for continuing education.
2.4 Employment opportunities
IT employees change companies in pursuit of better career growth and development
opportunities. According to Global Knowledge (2020), IT employees outweigh career
growth over a higher salary. Gaymer (2020) concluded that employees use continuing
education for upward career mobility, job enhancement, and personal enrichment. IT
employees need additional education qualification in emerging areas like big data,
artificial intelligence to increase their marketability in the job market. Employees with
new skills are hot candidates for the market and always get better hikes when they switch
to other companies. The companies look for potential employees who can make a
difference in the job by contributing innovatively (Adu and Okeke, 2014; Brekelmans
et al., 2013). Due to additional qualification employees get better job and promotion
opportunities. Thus following hypothesis is proposed:
H1 (b) Employment opportunities is significantly important for influencing employees
for continuing education.
44 P. Bhaskar et al.
2.5 Financial support
IT employees have a strong desire to learn and grow their careers. Financial support
provided by the employer for continuing education play a very important role. A lack of
budget and resources is another major concern for IT employees for continuing education
(Global Knowledge, 2020). Employees need to pay a huge amount of fees for upgrading
their knowledge by making registration in various technical and non-technical courses.
They look for financial support from their organisation for enrolling in these courses
(Adu and Okeke, 2014; Anhwere, 2013; Daniels and Walter, 2002). Lack of financial
support by the companies demotivates employees for not pursuing continuing education.
Thus following hypothesis is proposed:
H1 (c) Financial investment is significantly important for influencing employees for
continuing education.
2.6 Acquiring new knowledge and skills
IT employees need to hone their skills to cope with digital transformation. Continuing
education directly helps the employees in enhancing knowledge and skills (Adu and
Okeke, 2014; Brekelmans et al., 2013; Gaymer, 2020). IT employees cannot afford to
stagnate and need to learn new technology. IT employees make personal exploration with
emerging technologies like data analytics, cloud computing, virtual reality for working on
innovative projects. They upgrade their education continuously so that they can match the
company requirement.
Possessing special knowledge and skills helps employees to stand out from the crowd
when it is time for a promotion or new employment. Thus following hypothesis is
proposed:
H1 (d) Acquiring new knowledge and skills is significantly important for influencing
employees for continuing education.
Table 2 shows the factors which influence employees for continuing education.
Table 2 Factors influencing employees for continuing education
Factors Reference
Financial investment Sharma and Panthi (2018), Adu and Okeke (2014), Neagu (2014),
Anhwere (2013), Nadkarni and Herrmann (2010), Stolee et al. (2005),
Clements et al. (2005) and Daniels and Walter (2002)
Time requirements
for completing the
course
Sharma and Panthi (2018), Adu and Okeke (2014), Neagu (2014),
Anhwere (2013) and Stolee et al. (2005)
Employment
opportunities
Neagu (2014), Adu and Okeke (2014), Brekelmans et al. (2013) and
Kuruvilla and Ranganathan (2010)
Acquiring new
knowledge and skills
Neagu (2014), Adu and Okeke (2014), Brekelmans et al. (2013),
Whitaker et al. (2010), Gaymer (2020) and Stolee et al. (2005)
Career growth and developmen
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45
2.7 Career growth and development
Continuing education enhances the skills and personality of the employees thereby
provides opportunities and support for career growth and development. Pew Research
Center survey found that 87% of employees believe that continued training and education
are essential to keep up with changes in the workplace (Raine and Anderson, 2017). IT
employees want the opportunity to grow as personally and professionals. They are
willing to leave their jobs for career progression and willing to quit jobs for more
learning and development opportunities (Hillen, 2019). Laal et al. (2014) categorised
benefits of continuing education into skills development, academic development, and
personal development. Continuing education improves the chances of promotion
opportunities, increases bargaining power for higher wages, enhance job marketability,
career transition, personal development, and enhance self-image (Loveless, 2019).
Continuing education creates opportunities for both professional development and
personal skill enhancement. Based on the above literature review, career growth and
development can be categorised in personal growth and professional growth dimensions.
2.8 Personal growth
Employees always want their self-development by increasing their knowledge and skills.
In an ever-evolving IT industry where new technologies are introduced frequently. IT
employees need to regularly upskill or else they will be out of the market. Continuing
education platforms are a great way to develop skills. It improves self-awareness,
self-esteem, and boost confidence (Wilson and Hayes, 2009; Kasworm et al., 2010).
Continuing education is a perfect way to follow a personal interest and learn new skills.
The additional qualification enhances self-image and boost confidence and have a
positive impact on employees life (Loveless, 2019). Researchers agree that learning
should be a lifelong process and investing time in continuing education results in
personal growth. The personal growth includes personal effectiveness, development of
interpersonal skills, development of technical skills and self-confidence (Sharma and
Panthi, 2018; Bindon, 2017; Adu and Okeke, 2014; Katsikitis et al., 2013; Laal et al.,
2014; Tamkin and Hillage, 1999; Schein, 1978). Thus following hypothesis is proposed:
H2 (a) Personal growth is significantly important for career growth and development.
2.9 Professional growth
Professional growth factors are related to the career growth of the employees. Continuing
education adds weightage to the employee qualification that leads to a better salary at a
new position (Western Governors University, 2019). It helps in getting promotion
internally and increase chances for better job opportunity (Uzialko, 2018). Continuing
education is a good way to develop new skills or knowledge that is necessary for a career
transition (Loveless, 2019). The best way to improve job security is by taking continuing
education courses and utilising learning for company success (Milano, 2019).
46 P. Bhaskar et al.
Professional growth factors include better career opportunities, job security, salary
increment, and promotion (Sharma and Panthi, 2018; Bindon, 2017; Burrow et al., 2016;
Laal et al., 2014; Katsikitis et al., 2013; Ousey and Roberts, 2013; Baxter, 2012; Thomas,
2012; Nsemo et al., 2012; French and Dowds, 2008; Purcell et al., 2003; Patton and
McMahon, 2006). Thus following hypothesis is proposed:
H2 (b) Professional growth is significantly important for career growth and
development.
Table 3 shows the studies related to career growth and development.
Table 3 Career growth and development
Factors References
Professional
growth
Folb et al. (2020), Bentley (2019), Van Hoof and Doyle (2018), Kitto (2018),
Sharma and Panthi (2018), Wheeler and Chisholm-Burns (2018), Linnemanstons
and Jordan (2017), Babeva and Davison (2017), Cervero et al. (2017), Bindon
(2017), Üreten et al. (2017), Burrow et al. (2016), Laal et al. (2014), Anhwere
(2013), Katsikitis et al. (2013), Ousey and Roberts (2013), Baxter (2012),
Thomas (2012), Nsemo et al. (2012), French and Dowds (2008), Purcell et al.
(2003), Patton and McMahon (2006) and Schein (1978)
Personal
growth
Sharma and Panthi (2018), Tsoi et al. (2018), Bindon (2017), McCafferty et al.
(2017), Taylor and Neimeyer (2017), Adu and Okeke (2014), Katsikitis et al.
(2013), Laal et al. (2014), Tamkin and Hillage (1999) and Schein (1978)
2.10 Impact of continuing education on career growth and development
Technology continues to evolve at a rapid pace and IT employees also need to evolve at
the same pace. Continuing education is the key to staying on top of the industry,
maintaining personal and professional development, and remaining relevant in an
ever-shifting IT work environment (Sullivan, 2015). Continuing education improves the
chances of promotion opportunities, increases bargaining power for higher wages,
enhance job marketability, career transition, personal development, and enhance
self-image (Loveless, 2019). Continuing education enhances the skills and personality of
the employees thereby provides opportunities and support for career growth and
development. Previous research shows that continuing education has a positive impact on
employee career growth and development (Folb et al., 2020; Bentley, 2019; Van Hoof
and Doyle, 2018; Kitto, 2018; Sharma and Panthi, 2018; Tsoi et al., 2018). Based on the
above literature review, career growth and development can be categorised into personal
growth and professional growth. Thus following hypothesis is formulated to test the
impact of continuing education on career growth and development:
H3 Continuing education significantly impacts career growth and development.
Career growth and developmen
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3 Conceptual framework
The authors proposed the conceptual framework of the study in Figure 1. In this
framework factors influencing continuing education are employment opportunities,
acquiring new knowledge, the time required and financial investment and dimensions of
career growth and (personal growth and professional growth) development are included.
Figure 1 Conceptual framework proposed in the study
Source: Compiled by authors
4 Research methodology
The study identifies the factors which influence employee for continuing education and
its impact on career growth and development. To achieve this objective, the study was
conducted across the IT companies of Delhi, India. A systematic survey of the 315
employees working in the top 10 IT companies was conducted. The primary data was
collected using structured questionnaires. The questionnaire was divided into two
sections. Section 1 composed of factors influencing continuing education and Section 2
consists of dimensions of career growth and development. Factors influencing continuing
education are employment opportunities, acquiring new knowledge, the time required for
completing courses, and financial investment. Career growth and development
dimensions are personal growth and professional growth. A five-point Likert scale
ranging from strongly disagrees to strongly agree was used in this section. The data thus
collected were analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version
17.0 and Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS) version 21.0. Factor analysis was used
to identify the factors influencing for continuing education and dimensions of career
growth and development among employees of IT companies. The questionnaire was
evolved on the rationale of the extant literature review, thus verify the validity of the
48 P. Bhaskar et al.
content. A panel of academicians, researchers, and students engaged in e-learning were
used to pilot test the questionnaire, following which suggested changes were incorporated
to enhance the content as well as develop a specific questionnaire. To test the
questionnaire, a sample of respondents contrasting from those involved in the pilot test
was requested to answer the questionnaire.
5 Data analysis and results
This paper proposed a conceptual model and its usability was tested by using
second-order structural equation modelling. Two second-order model was developed.
One is continuing education dimensions which constitute four first-order constructs
(employment opportunities, acquiring new knowledge, the time required for completing
the course and financial investment) and career growth and development which
constitutes two first-order constructs (personal growth and professional growth. Initially,
an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted to determine the items which are
correlating to the first-order construct then structural equation modelling via AMOS was
used for model fit.
Table 4 reflects the descriptive statistics of the data. The mean of professional growth
is highest, followed by personal growth. Cronbach alpha (reliability) of all the constructs
shows a value greater than 0.900, which shows a high degree of internal consistency
within the constructs and suggests highly reliable constructs. Skewness and kurtosis value
shows that data is very near to normal. The correlation between the time required with
financial investment is 0.493. The correlation between employment opportunities with
acquiring new knowledge and skills is 0.652. The correlation between personal growth
with professional growth is 0.700.
5.1 Factor analysis
Table 5 exhibits factor loadings of the items on the retained factors for both the
constructs. The factor loadings of all the items are evaluated above 0.5 which indicates
that there is a high correlation with the respective factors (Hair et al., 2016). From the
principal component analysis, six factors have been extracted from 26 items on which
structural equation modelling has been applied. Factors influencing employees for
continuing education; four items have been grouped into employment opportunities, four
items have been grouped into acquiring new knowledge, four items have been grouped
into financial investment, and four items have been grouped time in time requirements for
completing the course. The dimension of career growth and development; 4 items have
been grouped into professional growth and the other four items have been grouped into
professional. Table 5 shows the rotated component matrix obtained from factor analysis
in SPSS to substantiate the underlying structure of the research model. As all values are
above 0.500 of the factor loadings of the respective constructs and all items of the
research instrument are properly loaded in their respective variables. This confirms a very
sound underlying structure of the proposed model.
Career growth and developmen
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49
Table 4 Mean, standard deviation, reliability and correlations of the study variable
Descriptive statistics
Mean SD Alpha Skewness Kurtosis 1 2 3 4 5 6
Time reqd. 5.19 1.06 0.930 –0.015 –1.204 1
Employment opportunity 4.96 1.14 0.935 0.040 –1.298 0.471** 1
Financial investment 4.88 1.17 0.946 0.035 –1.258 0.493** 0.638** 1
Acq new knw and skl 4.99 1.15 0.940 –0.004 –1.225 0.480** 0.652** 0.562** 1
Personal growth 5.29 1.18 0.949 –0.269 –1.273 0.255** 0.560** 0.515** 0.493** 1
Professional growth 5.38 1.15 0.945 –0.369 –1.133 0.277** 0.606** 0.595** 0.581** 0.700** 1
Note: **Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
50 P. Bhaskar et al.
Table 5 Rotated component matrix
1 2 3 4 5 6
The time required for
completing the course
TMR1 0.860
TMR2 0.850
TMR3 0.853
TMR4 0.865
Employment opportunities EMP1 0.781
EMP2 0.764
EMP3 0.746
EMP4 0.703
Financial investment FI1 0.787
FI2 0.813
FI3 0.791
FI4 0.769
Acquiring new knowledge and
skills
KNS1 0.800
KNS2 0.807
KNS3 0.773
KNS4 0.778
Personal growth PSG1 0.859
PSG2 0.856
PSG3 0.838
PSG4 0.854
Professional growth PFG1 0.791
PFG2 0.787
PFG3 0.704
PFG4 0.776
Notes: TMR: time required; EMP: employment opportunities; FI: financial investment;
KNS; acquiring new knowledge and skills; PSG: personal growth;
PFG: professional growth.
5.2 Convergent and discriminant validity
It can be observed from Table 6 that composite reliability (CR) is above 0.930 of all the
constructs [it should be greater than 0.7 (Hair et al., 2016)], Further, average variance
extracted (AVE) is above 0.768 [it should be greater than 0.5 (Hair et al., 2016)] and all
values of MSV are less than AVE (Hair et al., 2016). This verifies the sound convergent
validity of all the constructs. Additionally, all the constructs are different from each other,
as shown in Table 6 that all the italic values are greater than the corresponding values in
the respective columns (inter-construct correlations).
Career growth and developmen
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Table 6 Convergent and discriminant validity
CR AVE MSV (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)
Personal goal 0.949 0.823 0.548 0.907
Time required 0.930 0.768 0.280 0.272 0.876
Employment
opportunities
0.935 0.783 0.477 0.594 0.504 0.885
Financial
investment
0.946 0.814 0.456 0.542 0.529 0.675 0.902
Acquiring new
knowledge and
skills
0.941 0.798 0.477 0.521 0.515 0.691 0.595 0.894
Professional
growth
0.945 0.810 0.548 0.740 0.298 0.643 0.628 0.615 0.900
Notes: AVE: average variance extracted; CR: composite reliability, MSV: maximum
shared variance; the diagonal italic values are the square root of AVEs of the
diagonal values are correlation values.
5.3 Structural equation model approach
Hair et al. (2016) explained the role of the structural equation model in determining how
well the data collected supports the theory. Model fit indicators depict various indicators
of goodness of fit for the proposed model along with their acceptance values. The value
of chi-square/df is not significant but we have to look at other indicators also because for
larger samples generally chi-square value discards the acceptance of the model (Bentler
and Bonnet, 1980), also chi-square test becomes sensitive if sample size exceeds 200 (in
this study sample size is 315). The CFI of the model is 0.948 (close to 0.95) and RMSEA
is 0.066 (less than 0.08) so this model is acceptable with the acceptable fit indices.
Table 7 and Figure 2 shows the structural model results.
Table 7 Structural model result
Hypotheses Estimate SE CR P Decisions***
H1a CE --> Time_R 0.581 0.067 9.884 *** Supported
H1b CE --> Emp_O 0.863 0.072 14.084 *** Supported
H1c CE --> FI 0.796 0.069 13.329 *** Supported
H1d CE --> Kno_Sk 0.796 0.077 13.533 *** Supported
H2a CGD --> PrS_G 0.810 0.065 14.326 *** Supported
H2b CGD --> PrF_G 0.914 0.075 14.326 *** Supported
H3 CE --> Cr_G_D 0.815 0.073 12.866 *** Supported
Notes: SE = standard error, CR = critical ratio, ***p < 0.01, χ2 = 302.516, df = 245,
χ2/df = 1.235, CFI = 0.994, GFI = 0.940 and RMSEA = 0.025.
52 P. Bhaskar et al.
Figure 2 Structural model results (see online version for colours)
Notes: χ2 = 302.516, Df = 245, χ2/df = 1.235, CFI = 0.994, GFI = 0.940,
RMSEA = 0.025; TMR: time required; EMP: employment opportunities;
FI: financial investment; KNS: acquiring new knowledge and skills;
PSG: personal growth; PFG: professional growth.
Our first hypothesis proposes to check whether the four factors which were identified in
the research are representing the latent second-order construct of continuing education. It
can be seen from Table 7 that all the parts of the first hypothesis are supported.
Employment opportunity is having the maximum loading on continuing education,
followed by financial investment and acquiring new knowledge and skills and the least
loading is of time required for the study. This shows that people opt for continuing
education mostly for generating more employment opportunities for themselves and they
are least concerned for the availability of time for studies among the four predators of
continuing education.
Our second hypothesis was to verify whether the professional growth and personal
growth are reflected by another latent second-order construct of career growth and
development. It can be seen from Table 7 that all the parts of the second hypothesis are
also supported. Professional growth has more impact on career growth and development
(factor loading is 0.914) as compared to personal growth. It shows that people put
professional growth above personal growth for career growth and development.
Our third hypothesis is to confirm whether there is an impact of continuing education
on career growth and development. Our proposed model has confirmed that continuing
education has a significant impact on career growth and development (beta = 0.815,
p-value < 0.000). Employee’s personal motivation to acquire new knowledge and better
employment opportunities important factors that influence employees personally for
continuing education and support provided by the organisation in terms of financial
support and time flexibility also motivate employees for continuing education.
Employees get benefits for personal and professional growth when they get better
Career growth and developmen
t
53
qualifications. Thus it can be concluded that continuing education opportunities increase
career growth and development.
5.4 Conclusions
IT companies employ a large number of employees but at the same time, they also face
high attrition levels vary from due 12% to 18% (Basu and Sarkar, 2019). This happens
due to many reasons such as poor organisation policy, lack of career prospects, lack of
creativity, monotonous work, stressful job, higher salary expectation, lack of security,
lack of social interaction, unusual working hours, lack of development opportunities, etc.
(Asthana, 2014). IT companies need to double their efforts to prevent employees from
hopping to control attrition rates. IT sector is dynamic and rapid technological changes
like digitalisation or emergence of new tools call for constant re-skilling, and people who
do not scale up pro-actively tend to suffer. The companies by providing support for
continuing education exhibit that they value their employees, which effectively improves
employee retention, which results in the reduction of expenditure incurred by employee
turnover. The findings of the study indicate that factors like financial investment, time
requirements for completing the course, employment opportunities, and acquiring new
knowledge and skills play an important role among employees for continuing education
in IT companies in India. Continuing education can help employees to climb the career
ladder. With the help continuing education, employees get professional growth in terms
of better career opportunities, job security, salary increment, and promotion and personal
growth helps in personality development, development of interpersonal skills,
development of technical skills and self-confidence (Loveless, 2019).
Both employees and employers can be in a situation of win-win through continuing
education in the workplace. Continuing education boosts the confidence of the employees
and also helps the organisation to sustain. Companies interested in the welfare of their
employees and their professional development offer complete or partial financial aid for
continuing education. Based on the findings and recommendation it can be concluded
that continuing education is beneficial for employers as well as for the employee.
Continuing education improves proficiency in the workplace, provides promotion
opportunities, and develops inclination to learn new skills (Valamis, 2019). Continuing
education among employees will make them highly skills workforce which will result in
many intrinsic benefits. Highly skilled employees bring innovative ideas and generate
creativity; technical skills are developed constantly to face the rapidly changing market
(Florida, 2017). Companies that invest in the skills development of their employees have
better employee retention, increase employee morale, better job satisfaction, improve
productivity, and prepare them as future leaders. Companies that promote continuing
education have a direct financial beneficial impact (Cohen, 2015). It is evident from this
research that providing time for completing the course, financial support for continuing
education by employers motivates employees to perceive that companies value their
existence in the organisation, in turn, effectively improves employee retention
(Florentine, 2019). Secondly, it can also be comprehended that employee’s personal
motivation to acquire new knowledge and looking for better career opportunities are
other important factors that influence employees for continuing education. Many other
sectors are supporting their employees for continuing education by doing a tie-up with
educational institutes and universities. IT companies can also do a tie-up with national
and international organisations for upgrading their employee’s knowledge and skills.
54 P. Bhaskar et al.
6 Practical implication of the research
This research will help the IT companies to understand the factors which influence
employees for continuing education. Companies can provide financial investment support
and time for completing the course to upgrade the knowledge and skills of their
employees. This result of the study shows that continuing education helps in the personal
and professional development of the employees. Employee development also leads to
organisation development by reducing the attrition rate and making employees more
loyal and committed to the organisation. Based on the conclusions of the study, various
suggestions are proposed to the IT companies of India for influencing employees for
continuing education for better career growth and development.
• Companies can offer financial support by offering education allowance, tie-up with
banks for providing education loans at low interest, tie-up with educational institute
and university with tuition fees waivers, so that they feel the less monetary burden on
their shoulders. Through investing in employees, companies can express their care
about their employees. Employer-sponsored continuing education opportunities are
the definition of a win-win situation for both employees and the organisation.
• The employee needs time for completing the course and they look for support from
their companies for continuing their education. Since the employees are busy with
their jobs, it is difficult for them to take out enough time for attending regular
classes. Employees can be offered with the study leaves, early leaving from office,
flexible timings, etc. will act as a motivator for employees to opt for new courses for
continuing education. This will be a boon for employers also as the employees will
become more loyal and committed to the organisation.
• Employees always look for professional development opportunities for enhancing
their knowledge, skills, and abilities. As per a report on by Society for Human
Resource Management (SHRM) the Employee Benefits Report, the most common
type of opportunities provided by employers for educational and professional
development’ include professional organisation memberships, offsite events, and
workplace training or courses.
• Companies can motivate employees to participate in short term courses, seminars,
workshop conferences, knowledge sharing programs, etc. for establishing
professional relations outside the companies. IT companies can provide continuing
education by making tie-up with university and training institutes, e-learning
certification courses, external and internal training.
• Continuing education benefits employees to enhance their skills and add value to the
marketplace. It helps them to earn a better employment opportunity or promotion
internally. Companies also will reap the benefits of a skilled, satisfied workforce and
attract new intrinsically motivated employees.
• Acquiring new knowledge and skills is another important factor for continuing
education. IT employees can opt for multidisciplinary courses related to different
functional areas such as management, psychology, etc. Such courses will not only
provide vast knowledge to the working professionals regarding distinct streams but
Career growth and developmen
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55
will also develop the ability among them so that they could perform different tasks
simultaneously with equal efficiency.
6.1 Contribution to the theory and current knowledge
There is a lack of literature on continuing education in the IT sector. This research
contributes to the theory and current knowledge by proposing a conceptual framework for
‘Continuing education and its impact on career growth and development’. The research is
also contributed by adding new factors (time requirement, financial support, acquiring
new knowledge and employment opportunities) that influence employees for continuing
education and new dimension (personal and professional growth) of career growth and
development have been established in this research. This conceptual framework can also
be used in other sectors by testing it with appropriate statistical techniques.
7 Limitation and scope for future research
There is a lack of studies on continuing education in the IT companies in India has
deprived the researchers of the possible comparison with other sectors. Because of the
time and other resource constraints, this study limits itself to the geographic extent of
Delhi and a sample size of only 315 respondents. Future research needs to use more
diversified random samples to generalise the research findings. In this research, only four
factors, i.e., financial investment, Time requirements for completing the course,
Employment opportunities, and acquiring new knowledge and skills have been
considered. However, there are other important factors such personal factors (Adu and
Okeke, 2014), family support (Anhwere, 2013), cultural factors (Brekelmans et al.,
2013), professional development opportunities (Neagu, 2014; Adu and Okeke, 2014;
Brekelmans et al., 2013), possibility of establishing a professional relation (Neagu, 2014)
can also influence the employees to opt for continuing education. The impact is also
studied on the two broad factors, viz., personal growth and professional growth. More
parameters can be considered while understanding the impact of continuing education on
career growth and development; these factors have not been discussed in this study. To
further enhance the study and to gain better insight, research needs to encompass more
factors for continuing education. Further research would also need to include a broader
set of career growth and development indicators.
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